Chapter 2 — full chapter
2.1 Greenwashing
What is greenwashing?
Greenwashing occurs when an organisation communicates environmental or social claims that are misleading, exaggerated or cannot be substantiated. This may involve overstating the sustainability benefits of a product, highlighting isolated positive actions while omitting more significant impacts, or using vague terms such as eco-friendly, green or sustainable without clear evidence to support those claims.It is not only a trust and reputational issue but as outlined in Chapter 1, greenwashing may also fall within consumer protection rules.
Greenwashing is not always intentional. In some cases, it results from poor internal coordination, inconsistent data or a lack of understanding about what constitutes a credible sustainability claim. However, regardless of intent, the outcome is the same: stakeholders may be misled about an organisation's sustainability performance, ultimately damaging trust and credibility.
In the fashion industry, where supply chains are complex and sustainability challenges are interconnected, most organisations will have areas of progress alongside unresolved impacts and data gaps. Communicating honestly about both progress and limitations is therefore often more credible than presenting sustainability as a completed achievement.
Why does greenwashing matter?
Greenwashing has consequences beyond individual organisations. Misleading claims can confuse consumers, distort competition and reduce confidence in sustainability communication across the industry. When audiences struggle to distinguish credible information from marketing language, trust in legitimate sustainability efforts may also decline.
For organisations, greenwashing can lead to reputational damage, loss of consumer confidence and increased legal or regulatory scrutiny. More importantly, it can divert attention away from the systemic changes needed to reduce the fashion industry's environmental and social impacts.
Common characteristics of greenwashing
Greenwashing often includes one or more of the following practices:
- Making broad or undefined claims without supporting evidence.
- Highlighting a single sustainable attribute while ignoring more significant impacts elsewhere in the value chain.
- Using imagery or language that implies environmental benefits without factual justification.
- Communicating future ambitions as though they have already been achieved.
- Failing to provide accessible information about methodologies, data sources or limitations.
Recognising these patterns helps communicators evaluate whether a message informs audiences or unintentionally creates a misleading impression.
In practice
Before publishing a sustainability claim, ask the following questions:
- Is the claim supported by reliable and verifiable evidence?
- Is the language specific and easy to understand?
- Does the communication reflect the organisation's overall sustainability performance rather than one isolated initiative?
- Have any important limitations or uncertainties been acknowledged?
- Would an independent stakeholder be able to verify the claim?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, the communication should be reviewed before publication.